Crowdfunding projects need momentum from Day 1.
To do this, you need two things:
- A crowdfunding page that converts viewers into backers
- A crowdfunding promotion strategy that ‘layers’ your visitors in such a way that the first to the page are most likely to back, and encourages later visitors to take a risk.
In my crowdfunding workshops, I help my clients set a crowdfunding promotion strategy that focuses on 5 main promotion elements.
Every successful campaign uses a different combination of these elements to get the word out.
In this post, I’m going to tell you what those elements are, so you can brainstorm how to use them yourself.
The most important thing is that you know who your Ideal Backer is, and that you target promotion avenues that they are likely to encounter.
Traditional Media
This is the most obvious of all the crowdfunding promotion techniques. Here, you’re really talking about 4 types of media outlets:
- TV
- Newspapers
- Radio
- Magazines
The best way to get into these outlets is to target your attention at 2 or 3 “tentpole” pieces. These are the highly visible articles in major media outlets. They could be current affairs programs; breakfast or evening news; a newspaper feature; or a major radio interview.
If you are starting from “zero-crowd”, getting at least one of these pieces will be vital to your success. You’ll need something that really broadcasts your campaign.
The ideal timing for these pieces is between days 3 and 5 – when you have some momentum from your personal networks up your sleeve.
I highly recommend hiring a PR partner to get major stories. These are people who will be able to pitch your stories to the right people. They will increase your chances of success greatly. Make sure you make your timing expectations clear well in advance!
After Day 5, it’s all about sustaining momentum, and this is a great time to start sending a general press release.
Your local news stations, radio shows, and community newspapers will often be interested in local innovations and businesses. These are a good place to start, but you can build bigger coverage in other major outlets as well.
New media
New media are online-only publications. Don’t get these confused with the online outlets of traditional media.
Examples of popular new media outlets include Gizmodo, The Huffington Post, Mashable, and The Wireless.
They are popular online websites able to spread your campaign even further.
Each of these outlets has a different way of taking submissions. Googling for help and best practices for submitting to each outlet is a good idea.
Real-life events
There’s nothing quite like talking to a person face-to-face to convert them into a backer.
Some examples of real-life events you could hold are:
- Public demonstrations of your product or idea
- A launch party
- An open day
- Public sampling of your product
Always remember you want to be targeting your Ideal Backer. There’s no point giving away samples to a mother’s group if the people who will buy the product are teenage gamers!
Online events
The Exploding Kittens project used a fantastic example of an online event.
The purpose of an online event is to get your users to create content, that is then seeded and distributed through social media.
You’ll need to have a goal. In the case of Exploding Kittens, they got users to make content in order to unlock a series of ‘achievements’. Once enough achievements were unlocked by the crowd, a new stretch goal was added to the campaign rewards.
You might choose to do a giveaway of some kind, or copy the idea of using the online event to make your product even better.
To make the best use of the online event, I recommend you ask your backers to submit their entries via Twitter or Instagram with a hashtag. You can then take that content and add it to albums on Facebook. This allows you to create conversation and hype across multiple platforms from one event.
Influencers
Influencers are people who have large followings on social media. This can include YouTube, Tumblr, Twitter, and Instagram.
When choosing your influencers, ensure they are people who your Ideal Backer is likely to follow.
Get in contact with influencers in advance of your campaign. Explain what you’re doing and ask them if they would be willing to help with promotion. This could be as simple as a tweet, or a more complicated product-review on YouTube.
You may have to give product to influencers, or potentially even pay them. Contacting them and asking for help doesn’t guarantee it. If an influencer has agreed to help, but hasn’t followed through, feel free to get in touch in Weeks 2 and 3 to see if there’s anything else they need from you.
Always remember to thank your influencers. They’re ordinary people and usually juggling hectic lives. A little gratitude goes a long way and can ensure their help in the final 48 hours where you may need an extra push.
Pulling it all together
A successful campaign uses a unique combination of these elements to ensure success. It’s possible that not all of them will be required for your campaign.
Make sure you do your research and follow established submission procedures if they exist. It’s also better to have too many ideas than not enough – promotion often relies on other people who may not be as excited about your project as you are.
